[achtung]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YQIMGV5vtd4

Get your crowbars ready.

[Dark Hunter]

First Gordon Freeman mysteriously appears at the LHC, and now this?

It's a sign I tell you. A sign!

[watsisname]

[Nuke]

that is epic. just needs razor blade rotor wings and world dominion is within my grasp.

[Scourge of Ages]

Saw this earlier today, totally awesome. I like the sound they make, like large, angry bees. And they move like strike craft from Homeworld, which is also good.

[deathfun]

I've had a crowbar ready since I was born

[lostllama]

I've occasionally been helping out a bit with getting this aeroquad ready for flight. It's about maybe 3 or 4 times as big as those nano quadrotors.



In case you're wondering, no, I have no Combine-esque intentions to conquer the world or suppress humanity with this.

It's maybe not quite in the same category as those in that video, as it's not a drone. Still, I'll be standing well back when we test fly it proper.

[redsniper]

I'd like to take some credit for calling them out as manhacks first. Kthx.

[22:46] <achtung> Actually, have you guys seen this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YQIMGV5vtd4
[22:46] <achtung> I'm amazed, and I want one.
[22:46] <achtung> No, I want twenty.
[22:47] <achtung> Nano Quadrotors
[22:47] <redsniper> it's crazy
[22:48] <@HerraTohtori> swarm
[22:48] <@HerraTohtori> that can not end well...
[22:48] <@HerraTohtori> those things in formation look freaky
[22:48] <redsniper> ffffuuuuuuuuuuu
[22:48] <achtung> Those will be weaponized.
[22:48] <achtung> I just know it.
[22:48] <@HerraTohtori> cyloooons
[22:48] <redsniper> technology is advancing TOO FAST
[22:48] <achtung> Those will fly right into your ****ing window, and boom!
[22:48] <redsniper> we are play gods!
[22:49] <@HerraTohtori> achtung: nevermind that, they will cut your face wide open
[22:49] <redsniper> manhacks!
[22:49] <dsockwell> manhacks?
[22:49] <redsniper> manhacks
[22:49] <dsockwell> hacks mentioned
[22:49] <redsniper> get your crowbars
[22:49] <redsniper> put in some batting practice
[22:50] <dsockwell> oh manhacks
[22:50] <dsockwell> got it
[22:50] <redsniper> manhacks
[22:50] <achtung> manhacks
[22:52] <achtung> You can hear the cameraman giggle when it flips.
[22:54] <SpardaSon21> ****, manhacks
[22:54] <SpardaSon21> don't bother hiding in the sewers

[haloboy100]

Better hope they don't teach theoretical physics at that unniversity...

[Qent]

Really.

A university is the last institution I would expect to abuse the "nano" prefix.

[redsniper]

"It just means 'small' right?" "Yeah yeah, that's right. Like an ipod nano."

[Scotty]

University != university physics department.

[Nuke]

this manned octocopter was on hackaday awhile back, its the large version with more rotors, theres also the deathtrap chinese version. if your intrested.

I've occasionally been helping out a bit with getting this aeroquad ready for flight. It's about maybe 3 or 4 times as big as those nano quadrotors.

-snip-

In case you're wondering, no, I have no Combine-esque intentions to conquer the world or suppress humanity with this.

It's maybe not quite in the same category as those in that video, as it's not a drone. Still, I'll be standing well back when we test fly it proper.

what kind of inertial reference you using on that.

[lostllama]

I didn’t actually build it, and I’m not really technology-savvy. So far I’ve only helped out with calibrating the ESC (throttle range). The IMU (I take it that’s what you’re asking about?) is made up of the following:

- ITG-3200 triple axis gyro
- BMA180 triple axis accelerometer
- BMP085 barometric pressure sensor
- HMC5843 triple axis magnetometer.

There’s also an Arduino Mega 2560 and an AeroQuad Shield v2.0 in there. The clear plastic cover housing the electrical components is actually a food container (my suggestion).

So far it’s only made a short (about 1 second or less) hop. Something to do with the heading lock caused it to drop back down. I think it was enabled when it was facing a direction different to the heading it was facing after placing it on the ground, so once it was airborne it tried to abruptly swing back to that original heading.

I find it to be intimidating enough when it’s on the ground with all the rotors going. I especially cringe when I think of it hovering at head or eye-level. If one of those props flies off… Perhaps a protective circular shroud could be added.

[Dragon]

If you're thinking about protective shroud, you could try to also make it increase the lift of the quadcopter. That thing with ducted fans instead of propellers has a chance to look very futuristic, sort of like Dragon gunship from Avatar.

[Retsof]

Agh!  The Sound!  I really don't like bees!

[Nuke]

I didn’t actually build it, and I’m not really technology-savvy. So far I’ve only helped out with calibrating the ESC (throttle range). The IMU (I take it that’s what you’re asking about?) is made up of the following:

- ITG-3200 triple axis gyro
- BMA180 triple axis accelerometer
- BMP085 barometric pressure sensor
- HMC5843 triple axis magnetometer.

There’s also an Arduino Mega 2560 and an AeroQuad Shield v2.0 in there. The clear plastic cover housing the electrical components is actually a food container (my suggestion).

So far it’s only made a short (about 1 second or less) hop. Something to do with the heading lock caused it to drop back down. I think it was enabled when it was facing a direction different to the heading it was facing after placing it on the ground, so once it was airborne it tried to abruptly swing back to that original heading.

I find it to be intimidating enough when it’s on the ground with all the rotors going. I especially cringe when I think of it hovering at head or eye-level. If one of those props flies off… Perhaps a protective circular shroud could be added.

pretty cool, im thiking about getting an imu for my rc heli. the only stabilizer it has is a 1-axis gyro for the tail rotor. ive seen premade imu boards in the $60-$200, but if you buy the chips and make your own boards you can save a buttload of cash. does take doing a little smd soldering but im sure i can figure that out.

[Firstdragon34]

Awesome!

Like souped up wasps. Scary 

[lostllama]

If you're thinking about protective shroud, you could try to also make it increase the lift of the quadcopter. That thing with ducted fans instead of propellers has a chance to look very futuristic, sort of like Dragon gunship from Avatar.

Maybe that could work, I've passed the idea about having a duct-like shroud on. We would need to think about how to attach it to the frame. My idea is to use some stiff wire bracing to support a plastic shroud around each rotor. At present the main thing is to see if it can lift and hover in a stable manner. And I suppose with ducted fans it could resemble the Dragon gunship. Here's a scale RC model of one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlXlPVBQBlg. I quite like the Scorpion and Samson designs (RC Scorpion here).

pretty cool, im thiking about getting an imu for my rc heli. the only stabilizer it has is a 1-axis gyro for the tail rotor. ive seen premade imu boards in the $60-$200, but if you buy the chips and make your own boards you can save a buttload of cash. does take doing a little smd soldering but im sure i can figure that out.

Not sure how much it's all come to money-wise, but from what I gather no pre-made boards were used. I think this is the guide that was used to build it. Its modularity allows you to add other sensors such as a GPS receiver or an XBee shield (to provide wireless control via a computer, but I doubt we'll go that far). There's also a small HD camera that could be added. The AeroQuad Updater list has loads of modules to download and try out.

Links for anyone interested:
http://www.aeroquad.com/
Instruction wiki: http://aeroquad.com/showwiki.php

There's also DIY Drones - these are amateur UAVs so they have GPS. AeroQuad is more modular with the sensors, whereas these have the sensors integrated into their shields.

The AeroQuad site has its own store, but there are others such as Flyduino and Quadframe.

MultiCopter calculator: http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc_e.htm

Some very aerobatic quadcopters here: http://www.hovership.com/

....You know, after looking at some of these 'copters I am reminded of the flying guillotine device I saw in that Mythbusters episode. Ugh... I'm imagining an RC version of Grant's "Decapitron".

[Nuke]

im kinda past the point of stacking shileds. arduino is a good way to introduce newbs to mcu development or to provide dev hardware for people who just want to focus on the software side and dont mind spending money on shields. i myself find shields a little bit cumbersome for r/c projects. stack 3 or 4 of them and you got a massive pile of electronics and associated weight to deal with. the arduino board also kinda limits your mcu selection. sometimes you want to reduce the project size. maybe use a smaller mcu like a tiny 85 or 84, where you can do with fewer pins. for example if all your sensors and transceivers are i2c or spi, then you can really do without a lot of io, and a smaller mcu would be preferable. you may also want to do away with unused parts and connectors to reduce weight and cost (connectors are ****ing expensive).

the most expensive part of electronics manufacture is probably making pcbs (most parts cost pennies). using my zero budget mentality to hardware dev, i found a recipe for etching solution (being unable to acquire ferric chloride on the cheep), and another recipe for making your own transfer paper (yes you can use photo paper, but that costs actual money). then using a laser printer i got for free i can do the thermal transfer method. i will probably use eagle cad, it lets you print to transfer paper. the only thing i spent money on were the blank uncut pcbs. then its just a matter of print, polish, clean, iron on, fix errors with sharpie, soak, etch, drill, clean again, and solder **** to it. granted you can pay people to make boards for you, but whats the fun in that.

for me im using 4 servos and an esc, these all have their own driver circuitry so i only need to generate control signals. in software you feed the data from the imu into a pid algorithm to generate control signals. of course for a heli there is a lot more calibration to deal with, and channel mixing is more involved. i will probably deal with that (and generate control signals) on another mcu all together so that the pid algorithm just has to deal with roll, pitch, yaw, and collective (blade pitch and throttle). another mcu will run the show, host the bus, read the sensors, communicate over the transceiver, and do pid stuffs. i really dont want to make it autonomous, but i do want to have an autopilot to fall back on. it would try to level out and then reduce speed till its hovering. it would work in 3 modes, off, on, and fly by wire mode. fly by wire would just kinda prevent you from doing anything stupid. but its just a curiosity right now, not an actual project yet, il have to make sure my pcb manufacture process works.